A workshop highlighting the long-standing relationship between Vietnam and Japan is taking place in the central city of Da Nang from November 22-23.

As part of activities to mark the 40th anniversary of bilateral ties, the event focuses on the history and future prospects of the relations from the outlook of central Vietnam.

The traditional link began through a number of trade activities via sea routes between the local central region and Japan during the 17th -18th century, said reports at the seminar.

Participants also heard reports on assessments of Vietnam-Japan ties in the cooperation to preserve and promote intangible cultural heritage values, and economic relations over the past 20 years.

Professor Tran Van Tho from Tokyo’s Waseda University underlined the role of Japan’s official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI) to Vietnam as well as technology transfer and trade know-how over the past two decades.

Japan is the largest of Vietnam’s ODA donors with 24 billion USD, accounting for 30 percent of the total commitment.

It has to date run over 2,000 valid FDI projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of 33.4 billion USD. It is Vietnam’s biggest investor, accounting for 15 percent of the Southeast Asian nation’s FDI registered capital.-VNA